In Freeman's Shadow
by rhseta
Summary: This is the story of Zam Hunters, a member of the city 17 rebellion. He was one of the top operatives within the rebellion. He was a hero, that is until Gordon Freeman reappeared in city 17. This is his telling of the event in HalfLife 2.


My name is Zam Hunters. I am one of the survivors of the combine attack on Ravenholm. I was witness to the extremes those bastards are willing to go to keep control over us. I saw as my fellow townsfolk were turned into zombies by the head crabs. It was sheer luck I had an old magnum and ammo in my closet, for protection; that magnum saved my life as I shot and killed countless head crabs, zombies and combine soldiers to reach the tunnels. No matter how many bullets hit me I never stopped running. By the time I reached the ladder at the end of the old tunnel, I had lost a lot of blood. I blacked out and fell down into the water below. Death had come to claim me, or so I thought

Strapped to medical equipment, with bandages all over I awoke days later. "Where Am I?" I asked groggily, morphine dripping into my veins. "You are safe" said a voice, it was a woman, and come to think of it I never got to thank her. It was only later that I was told where I was. I had been taken to a rebel base near the old tunnel I fell through. After I recovered, I was offered a choice; either help the rebels free city 17 from the combine or become another faceless, nameless, complacent and ignorant, citizen of city 17. I quickly accepted their offer and was trained in all kinds of arms, and hand to hand combat. I went from a software engineer to a rebel recruit. During the next few months I rose in the "ranks" of the rebels, very fast. First my team and I raided a combine supply depot near the old highway with no casualties, after that we managed to infiltrate a combine detention facility with the uniforms we stole from the supply depot and free many of our comrades and innocent civilians. After countless missions later I came to take the number 5 spot on the top ten Anti-citizens list. Dr. Breen would often mention me on his daily transmissions "One of the cultists from Ravenholm" I believe is what he called me, stupid fuck.

I had the opportunity to not only meet, but to actually have a serious conversation with Dr. Vance, his daughter Alyx and his right hand Barney. But all that changed the day HE arrived. The One Free Man or The Freeman as the Vortigants called him. Dr. Gordon Freeman, I also had the distinct honor of meeting him, the single most meaningful event in my life thus far. I met the man who could single handedly save us from the combine.

But still, though I was honored to meet Dr. Freeman, I envied him. I wanted to be the one to free us; that was supposed to be my honor. But none the less, when he arrived at city 17, I was told to follow him, by Barney. That proved more than difficult, since security in whatever area he was spotted in, tripled in no time. Now those combine goons never bothered me, what did become a serious thorn in my side was the amount of ground Freeman covered in so little time, and the detours I had to take, thanks to Gordon taking all our remaining vehicles, to cross the waterway and the destroyed highway. Following Freeman through toxic waters without an HEV suit was next to impossible, I lost Freeman almost as soon as he took off with the hover boat; I back tracked all the way back to Dr. Kleiner's lab, where Barney gave me two choices. Either wait for a new hover boat to be constructed, or be the next person, after Alyx and Gordon to be transported to the Black Mesa East lab. I didn't really want to wait for the Vortigants to build another hover boat, so I chose to be teleported. It wasn't a very hard decision, but knowing what happened to Gordon, I was pretty nervous stepping into the teleportation device. Dr. Kleiner swore to me that he recalibrated it so that I should be fine. I took a deep breath as the platform raised me in the air, the gate closing me in, the teleporter spinning, within seconds I was standing atop the platform in the Black Mesa East lab, steam shooting up around me as the teleporter cooled itself down. It was barely a minute after I arrived, before Alyx came looking for me. "Zam, where is Gordon?" she asked me "Is he alright?" Dr. Vance asked from behind me. "He is fine; he is on a hover boat on his way here, but..." I stopped short and sighed "… he is being chased by a Hunter chopper. But if Gordon's reputation is true, he can take care of that damn thing no problem." I said pushing forward a nervous smile trying to calm everyone down. "Good" Dr. Vance said walking back to his lab. "But dad, will Gordon be ok?" Alyx asked him, I sensed a bit of concern in her voice. "He will be fine Alyx .Don't worry so much." He said calmly as the door to his lab opened. "Ok dad." Alyx sighed. ""Alyx… what should I be doing? I mean, I am no scientist or mechanic, I am no good around a lab" I said. "Right. Come with me. I will see if I can get in touch with Barney." She told me walking me towards the communications console. "Barney… Barney… this is Alyx, come in Barney." As Alyx finished her sentenced, Barney's image appeared on the TV. over the comm. console. "Yes Alyx what is it?" "I have got Zam here and he wants to know what he is supposed to be doing now that Gordon's on his way here?" Alyx asked him, pushing me into the view of the camera. "Hi Barney." I said, not really knowing what to say to him. "Glad to see you made it over there Zam; You say Gordon's on his way there?" He asked. I nodded in response. "Good job Zam, you've done well. As for your new orders… Just stay there, help out Alyx, Eli and Dr. Mothman anyway you can. I will think of something for you to do later. Barney out." The screen turned off and I backed away. "Alright then Zam, you heard Barney, relax, take a break, get cleaned up, get a warm meal and try to be useful." Alyx told me, her voice a bit more cheerful.

The lab equipment beeped and hummed as if it were alive, the vortigants and the scientists walked around looking at charts, changing settings, observing everything. I looked around and headed toward the bathrooms, as Alyx suggested I got cleaned up, showered and cleaned my clothes. After ward I picked up my weapons and started to clean them as well, whipping away the dirt, dust, toxins, blood, and what ever got into them, that took me about an hour, the exact time it took Freeman to get to Black Mesa East. I watched as Gordon was greeted by everyone, my magnum at my hip I sat at the opposite end as Gordon, Alyx, Eli, and Dr. Mothman talked for what seemed like five minutes.


End file.
